Wales v Albania: Rhian Wilkinson’s side hope pattern continues in Women’s World Cup play-off semi-final

ByGareth Vincent

BBC Sport WalesAtShkoder, Albania

If the pattern of this Women's World Cup qualifying campaign continues, Wales will be starting preparations for a play-off final come Wednesday morning.

Wales return home to Llanelli on Tuesday for the second leg of their play-off semi-final with a lead courtesy of a 1-0 triumph in Albania.

It was a game which mirrored the three Wales played on their travels during the group stage of this World Cup qualifying campaign, in the Czech Republic, Albania and Montenegro.

In each of those matches, Wales claimed a positive result despite an underwhelming performance.

The story was the same in Shkoder on Friday night.

In their home fixtures during the group stage, by contrast, Wales won plaudits as well as points in three resounding victories.

Rhian Wilkinson must now hope her team will repeat the trick against Albania, who will travel to Wales wondering how they have not given themselves a foothold in the tie.

"We knew coming here [to Albania wasn't going to be easy," said Wales captain Angharad James.

"The most important thing was getting the result, the clean sheet and taking that back to Llanelli on Tuesday.

"Playing in Wales - we love nothing more as a group, so we're in a good situation right now."

Wales v Albania

Women's World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final second leg

Tuesday, 13 October at 19:15 BST

Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli

Live on BBC iPlayer, BBC One Wales, BBC Sounds, BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru, BBC Sport website and app, plus live text commentary.

Wales are indeed well placed to progress as their quest to reach a first Women's World Cup in the nation's history continues.

But the fact is that recent performances on their travels have not been those of a side destined to make it all the way to Brazil.

Wales topped their group after scraping a point in the Czech Republic, scrapping to a 1-0 victory in Albania and slumping to a 1-1 draw in Montenegro.

If the hope was that Wales would show signs of progress on their return to Albania, they failed to deliver.

Even as they took on opponents who sit 37 places below them in the Fifa rankings, Wales were unconvincing both in and out of possession.

Their goal came from a set-piece with Ezmiralda Franja diverting Lily Woodham's corner into her own net.

Aside from that, Wales rarely looked like scoring, though Mared Griffiths and Hannah Cain did have sights of goal.

It was Albania who appeared much more likely to find the target, with Wales goalkeeper Safia Middleton-Patel required to do plenty of work.

When Middleton-Patel was beaten, Wales were saved by the woodwork, when Fortesa Berisha's shot rattled the post, and then the officials, as Megi Doci's effort was ruled out for offside.

Wales were fortunate to avoid defeat, never mind a draw.

"There were moments where obviously they could have scored, but you ride your luck sometimes," said Wales midfielder Rachel Rowe.

"We rode the game out. I'm really proud of the girls. We go into Tuesday confident and with areas to improve on."

The biggest positive for Wales is that, as Wilkinson pointed out, they found a way to win on a "hard day" at the Loro Borici Stadium.

"We need to make sure we take care of business at home but equally push our standards a bit," the Wales head coach added.

A bit may well be enough against Albania, but a lot may be required if Wales are to move all the way through what is a lengthy qualifying process.

The first task is to get over the line in Llanelli, where Wales will hope to reproduce the kind of performance which delivered a 4-0 win over Albania in Wrexham in April.

"I think [we need] just a bit more calmness in possession and then obviously to kill their counter-attack, because they're really good," Wales midfielder Sophie Ingle said.

"They've got two, three fast forwards and you can see on the break a few times they tested Saf in goal."

If all goes to plan, Middleton-Patel will have a quieter shift in midweek.

But if Wales can progress, they must then prepare for a step up in class.

The likelihood is that the winners in Llanelli will face Norway in a two-legged play-off final in December, with the second of those games to be played away from home.

The Norwegians, ranked 14th in the world and serial attendees at major tournaments, have one foot in the final after their 2-0 first leg win in Romania on Friday.

Gemma Grainger knows plenty about Wales, of course, having enjoyed a relatively successful spell as Welsh boss before quitting to take charge of Norway in 2024.

But no doubt Norway's staff will be watching Wales' tie against Albania – and at the midway point, they will not have seen much to frighten them.

Wales' chance to rewrite the record books

The good news for Wales is that if they do reach the play-off final, they should have a stronger player pool available by the time that stage comes around.

No fewer than nine regular members of Wilkinson's squad are missing through injury in this international window, meaning there was something of a patched-up look about Wales in Albania.

The return of those who are currently sidelined - or some of them, at least - will make a difference to Wilkinson's plans.

Wales also have the opportunity to write a piece of history on Tuesday.

The Albania win means Wales are unbeaten in nine matches, and have therefore equalled the nation's previous best sequence without defeat, which came between November 2013 and August 2014.

Wales will be in danger of a shock semi-final exit if they do not make it to 10 games in midweek.

Should they reach 10, the next target would be to get to 11 by avoiding defeat in the first leg of the final.

Manage that and Wilkinson's players will be in with a shout of doing something very special.

The inter-confederation play-offs may yet lie in wait but, if Wales were to get that far, the likelihood is that the World Cup would beckon.

The first task, however, is to get past Albania, and to do so with a performance which increases Wales' belief.